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Waiting for Me

Summary:

When Agent Morrigan Healy is requested to help translate the first Alien contact after the Battle of New York, she's swept into the middle of a 1,000 year battle for domination of the universe. With only her knowledge and wits to help her, she must uncover one of the best-kept secrets in the galaxy all while keeping her own past hidden and her family safe. Will looking death in the eye change her or will she suffer the fate of those who came before her?

Notes:

I've had this story stuck in my head for a while. Finally decided to actually put it down and post it. It's my first fic and, I'll be the first to admit, a little self-indulgent. I also don't have a Beta so please let me know if there's anything glaring. I hope some of you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Fire.

 

The first thing she realized was that her world was on fire. The flames were fresh and just starting to consume the buildings. She stood in the center of a square, at the epicenter of the explosion. She was untouched unlike everything else in sight. She could feel the heat down to her bones. The smell filled her lungs and she let out a shuddering sigh. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Death filled the void around her. Shaking and swirling like the ash in the air.

 

Time seemed to stand still. Morrigan stood in the center of her city’s square. Ash filled her mouth and lungs as she tried to steady her breathing. Her home was on fire. If she opened her eyes she could see the palace on the hill above the city. She didn't want to look at it though, half of it had been torn away. Fear started to creep up her back. She didn’t know how she got here.

 

She opened her eyes. Morrigan took a stumbling step forward, her breathing labored. She needed to find someone, anyone, to explain to her what happened. She looked all around and saw no one. In fact, despite the mayhem around her she only heard the soft sound of the flames consuming the buildings. There was no crying or screaming. Nothing.

 

From the corner of her eye, Morrigan saw a man dart in and out of an alley, as if he was checking to see if the coast was clear from whatever had destroyed her home. She turned and started towards the opening of the alley.

 

“Wait, please. Please” she called out, her voice pleading and thick from the smoke. She fumbled her way to the entrance of the alley and looked for the man who disappeared. The alley was empty. No one was inside and there wasn’t anything large enough for a man to hide behind. Fear was winning the fight over control in her mind.

 

‘Where was he? Where’s anyone?’

 

Tears stung her eyes as panic filled her lungs. Morrigan’s breathing was coming in short gasps and her hands trembled at her sides. The reality before her didn’t make sense. With her mind grappling with what she was seeing, Morrigan fell to her knees. She covered her face, pressing against her eyes to try to stop the tears now flowing down her face.

 

“Get a hold of yourself!” She chided, wiping her face with the back of her hands. She forced herself to stand, turning back to the town square.

 

It wasn’t empty anymore.

 

She was surrounded.

 

It was still silent.

 

Morrigan eyes went wide as she stared at the gathering before her. They weren’t human. She didn’t know what they were. The creatures looked like solid smoke trying to look human. Their arms tapered off to points with no hands and their legs were the same. They floated a few inches above the ground like reverse shadows standing before her.

 

They lingered in the square and stared at her. Or at least she felt that they were staring, they didn't have eyes for her to tell. She felt one of the shadows tilt its head as it looked at her. Her body seized, the muscles all along her back pulling taut. It took one step towards her on uncertain feet. Slowly the shadow picked up the pace and began a jerky half run towards her. The other shadows, sensing the first begin, joined it in their halting run towards her. She was paralyzed. Her mind screamed at her to run but her body couldn't move.

 

‘I know who you are, ’ a whisper tore through in her mind.

 

The shadows started running, a dark wave barreling towards her. A stumbling silent mob that was swarming her. The first shadow was feet from her. She raised her arms to protect herself as the shadow barreled into her chest.

 

Morrigan woke with a start. She sat up in bed, covered in a cold sweat with her heart hammering at an unrelenting pace. The memory of the dream started to drain from her mind. The only thing she could remember was fire and fear. Tears pricked her eyes. Morrigan tried desperately to hold onto what she had seen. Something about it was familiar and yet nothing was. She took a shaky breath and covered her face with her hands. She pressed against her eyes with her palms and looked at the clock by her bed. 4:47. Great. Too late to go back to bed and early enough to be exhausted all day. Morrigan groaned as she fell back onto her pillow. Mondays already suck. This makes it worse.

 

'Might as well get up now and go in early' Morrigan reasoned with herself. She always did like the solitude of the early morning office. Besides, she had a meeting to present on her new advanced language class for her agents that she could prepare for.

 

The world slumbered on as Morrigan got ready. Night had not loosened its grip yet and with winter approaching the morning took longer and longer to come. Morrigan still felt the lingering anxiety of the nightmare. She felt suffocated by the darkness still outside. She yearned for the morning to break and provide some comfort in the sunlight. Something had shaken her from the dream. As if it was an awakening and a warning at the same time.

 

Morrigan took her time getting ready. She showered leisurely and actually took the time to blow out her long hair. Morrigan meticulously applied her makeup and arranged her clothes for the day. Once she was satisfied with the results she went downstairs.

 

Morrigan's home was small. A townhome with two stories, a decent kitchen, and a small study off the front door where she could meet with clients who needed a translator. She swept down the stairs and proceed to the kitchen. Coffee before anything else on this unplanned early morning.

 

With her warm thermos filled, she grabbed her bag and began her trip into work. It wasn't far, a five-minute walk to the train, a twenty-minute train ride and then a ten-minute walk to her office at the Academy. Most days she read on the train or worked on translation jobs on the side. Morrigan had been the lead instructor for the linguist division of Shield for the past five years. There wasn't a language she didn't know and had even spent time working with a field team deciphering a monolith with alien writing on it.

 

By the end of her train ride, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Morrigan took her time walking in, no need to rush this early in the morning. She felt herself starting to relax for the first time since her abrupt start to the day. The sun making it feel like the darkness was never there to begin with.

 

Morrigan made it to her office in record time. She passed her badge over the scanner and walked through the turnstiles into the building. Her office was just down the hall and up a flight of stairs. She dropped her bag and her coat and sat at her desk.

 

She set about starting her day. Before she knew it a few hours had passed and the office around her came to life. Being near the hustle and bustle of life in the office always made her feel energized, even if she was never directly involved. She was picky over who she shared her little spare time with and made it a rule to never be more than friendly with co-workers.

 

Morrigan jumped when she heard a knock on her office door. She looked up to see one of the undergraduates waiting patiently for her attention.

 

"There are two agents here to see you, ma'am. The man says it's urgent." The girl said.  There was a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes, no doubt wondering what the urgent need was.

 

"I'll be right down. Did you get his name and rank?" Morrigan asked as she grabbed her coat.

 

"No, ma'am. I work part-time in the front office. It seemed important so I came to you right away."

 

"Thank you, you're dismissed." Morrigan stood and walked around the girl and headed towards the front office.

 

When she entered the office she saw there were two people waiting for her. A fairly average looking man and a smaller Asian woman. Morrigan approached the two and said, "Hello, I’m Morrigan Healy. I hear you’re looking for me."

 

"I'm Agent Coulson and this is Agent May," The man turned to her and extended a hand which Morrigan took. As he introduced the woman to his left she extending a hand and gave Morrigan a brief shake.  Agent Coulson continued,

 

"We're here because you come highly recommended. I take it you helped translate a Monolith with one of our field teams a few months back. We're hoping for your assistance today."

 

Morrigan watched as Agent Coulson reached into a pocket and produced a small recording device. He turned the power on and hit the play button. A male voice drifted out of the machine. It was powerful but it was also soft and lilting at the same time. It sounded almost like he was singing. On impulse, Morrigan reached out and grabbed the device bringing it closer to her ear.

 

"Now you that heard it. What do you make of it?" Coulson asked reaching out for the device

 

"Is he speaking Gaelic? Or is it Welsh? I can't really grasp the words," Morrigan asked as she handed the device back.

 

"How would you approach translating this? Do you hear any words? Phrases?"

 

"I don’t... I- I don’t know."

 

"So what can you tell us?" Agent May snapped, her frown deepening.

 

"Are you telling me you don't know this language?" Morrigan asked, bewildered. The two agents in front of her exchanged glances.

 

"Is... is this a transmission? Are we getting First Contact since New York?"

 

"In a way. Can you translate it?" Coulson asked. Morrigan looked at him, dumbstruck.

 

"I can tell you that it’s impossible to translate from an audio file. I would need to be there to interact with him."

 

"We thought you'd say that. Come with us."

 

The next thing she knew Morrigan was swept up into a flurry of activity. Her things were brought to her and she was loaded onto a quinjet with Agent Coulson and Agent May. A folder was pushed into her hands once she was strapped in. It was basically empty. The file contained minimal case notes and it looked like they were heading to Zephyr One. Once aboard they would journey to an undisclosed location.

 

The trip to Zephyr One took no time at all. Morrigan was ushered off the quinjet and into a laboratory. Her excitement at seeing Zephyr One for the first time muted when she realized she would not be getting a full tour. She looked around the machines and computers and realized the lab was empty. She thought there'd be more people here considering that this was Earth's first non-hostile contact with an alien race. On the table in front of her, she found a pile of note cards and notepads. Taking them and grabbing a pen she started to write up basic ideas for tackling this challenge.

 

She heard intense arguing coming down the hall. Morrigan couldn't hear words but it sounded like a man and a woman and they were heading her way. The door opposite of her flew open and in walked the arguing couple. Morrigan noted that they looked young. There was no way they were older than she was so they had to be fresh out of the science academy. Morrigan also realized that they were in fact, arguing in English, but it was so complex that she had no idea what they were discussing.

 

The woman noticed her first, clapping her hands together mimicking a prayer. With an audible gasp, she bounded forward with her hand outstretched. Morrigan took it while the woman enthusiastic spoke.

 

"You must be Dr. Healy! I'm Jemma Simmons and this is Leopold Fitz."

 

"Everyone just calls me Fitz. We're glad to have you here doctor," the man said as he stepped around his partner. He held out his hand and Morrigan shook it as well.

 

“Where are you at so far in translating? Does he seem cooperative?” Morrigan inquired now that introductions were out of the way.

 

The duo looked and each other for a moment before Fitz launched into the tests they’d run so far.

 

“From what we can tell there’s no base human language in it. He looks human enough so we are fairly confident that he doesn’t have an abnormal vocal structure from humans. In fact, besides the god awful noise he’s making, he seems human in almost every way. His expressions mimic human emotion almost perfectly. We can tell he’s not upset to be in his cell but actually seems amused by it all if you can believe that.”

 

Morrigan nodded and asked, “Have you tried teaching him our language?”

 

Jemma sighed, “We’ve been trying but when we speak with him the women seem to lose all focus and the gentlemen get angry with him. It’s strange. We’ve been trying to also understand how being in his presence changes our agent's behavior.”

 

Morrigan brought a hand up to rub her face, this was going to be much harder now that there seem to be cognitive issues when interacting with the alien. Taking a deep breath in Morrigan asked, “How have you been going about translating?”

 

“We’ve been bringing in objects and seeing if he recognizes them and trying to get him to name them. Fitz and I are science but not language experts, that’s why we put in the request to bring you in. You’ve translated, partially at least, a monolith. You’re Shield’s best shot at success.” Jemma said. It was clear that the stress of dealing with an unsuccessful first contact was bothering her.

 

Morrigan sat down for a moment to think. She rubbed her eyes, thinking of how to bridge the gap with an alien who had no context of earth languages. Slowly an idea formed in her mind. Grabbing a whiteboard marker she started writing down her thoughts.

 

“So first, we need to make sure that he understands what a question is,”

 

After writing ‘Why are you here?’ on the whiteboard she continues.

 

“So the question is 'Why are you here?' Okay, the nature of the question is a request for information. Then, we need to clarify the difference between a specific ‘you’ and a collective ‘you’, because we don’t want to know why Joe Alien is here, we want to know if there's more than just him.  

 

And purpose requires an understanding of intent. We need to find out: does he make conscious choices? Or is his motivation so instinctive that he doesn’t understand a “why” question at all? He might be responding with human reactions but this could just be a survival tactic. And, and biggest of all, we need to have enough vocabulary with him that we understand his answer.”

 

Capping the marker and setting it down Morrigan turned to look back at the scientists. Fitz looking slightly irritated and Jemma wearing a smug smile.

 

“Well if it was that easy why didn’t we think of it?” Fitz incredulously asked Jemma.

 

“That’s because she’s an expert in language and you are not. Come this way, we can take you to him now if you’d like. He’s actually on the ship. We’re not landing as a precaution in case his arrival leaks,” Jemma turns back toward the door she entered, motioning for Morrigan to follow.

 

Morrigan snagged her notepad and pen as she followed Jemma out the door and into a hall of the ship. Fitz walked beside her. The three chatted about nothing on the way there.

 

With each step, Morrigan's nerves got a little more pronounced. She knew they said he looked and acted human but what if he didn’t. What if she couldn’t translate his language or worse, what if he was a bad guy? Her stomach clenched at the thought. She never was a fighter despite her upbringing to be one. That’s why she got into the language arts. She could diffuse almost any situation before conflict happened by always knowing the right words to say.

 

The arrived before she was ready. Two men stood in front of the door to what Morrigan assumed was the alien’s holding cell. One of the two was in traditional SWAT gear and the other was just in a black t-shirt and jeans. The man in the jeans watched them approach.

 

Addressing Jemma he asked, “This your expert?” His tone reminded Morrigan of the guys she met who were in the Cadet Track at the Academy. He looked her over, a frown on his face, a few inches from a scowl.

 

“Yes, this is Doctor Morrigan Healy. She’ll be leading our interactions with our... guest.” Jemma seemed to hesitate on saying ‘guest’. It looked like they didn’t know what to call the alien either.

 

“Dr. Healy this is Grant Ward. He’ll be leading security for you.”

 

Jemma turned her body slightly as she introduced Morrigan. Morrigan stepped forward and held out her hand. Agent Ward looked at it for a second longer than polite before taking it. His hand was noticeably cold and something in his behavior rang alarm bells for Morrigan. She would be happy to have as few encounters with him as she could.

 

“I take it you’ll be wanting to speak with our guest?” Agent Ward asked, earning a nod from Morrigan.

 

“Okay, there are some safety measures you need to follow. Break any of these and I’ll pull you out myself. First, don’t touch him. Second, no food or drinks. Third, you will be decontaminated going in and decontaminated going out. Finally, you only have one hour and I’m pulling you out. Any questions?”

 

“None, sir.”

 

“In that case, follow me,” Agent Ward turned and opened the door behind him. It led to a small room with a large glass window. There was a door to the side that opened to a small antechamber that led into the holding area for the alien.

 

“Is this one-way glass?” Morrigan asked as she entered the room. She looked at Agent Ward who nodded in affirmation. She walked to the glass and was wholly unprepared for what she saw.

 

He was handsome. More than handsome, he was devastating in his looks. Morrigan watched as he spun a paper cup on the desk. Boredom clear in his posture and expression. His hair was red and swept back. He wore a skin-tight suit in a red and white pattern. As if he could tell she was there, the alien looked up and at the glass just as Morrigan reached the threshold. She watched as he flashed an easy smile and leaned back into the chair. He turned away from the glass and looked towards the door, waiting for someone to enter.

 

“Am I free to go in?”

 

“Yes, decontamination takes about 30 seconds,” Jemma answered.

 

“Don’t breathe in too deeply though,” Fitz muttered under his breath.

 

Morrigan slowly approached the door, her fingertips brushing the handle. She hesitated. Fear coiled in her stomach, anxiety shunted her breathing. She closed her eyes thinking positive thoughts. An internal mantra built up saying, ‘You can do this. You’ve trained most of your life for this. You are the best at what you do. This is your time now.

 

With a deep breath, Morrigan pushed open the door to the antechamber. The door closing with a solid noise behind her.

 

The decontamination process was horrible. Morrigan didn't know what was in the mist they coated her in but it smelled like fake sugar cookies mixed with Lysol. Finally, the door to the holding room opened up and Morrigan nearly ran out of the decontamination room.

 

The door opened easily and Morrigan had to stop it from slamming into the wall. With as much grace as she could muster, she politely closed the door and turned to face her new student.

 

“You?" The word fell out of his mouth surprising them both. Morrigan stood wide-eyed as she processed the English word that he said. Recognition flashed in his eyes for a moment but as soon as it was there it was gone. For a split second the man's face had gone completely slack.

 

In an instant, the man's easy smile from before returned. Morrigan couldn't help but join him in the tranquil feeling she had now. Why was she so anxious in the first place? Judging by his behavior he seemed like a fine person.

 

"I take it they told you I was coming. My name is Morrigan. I'm here to talk with you for a little today," Morgan responded as she sat down. She was relaxed in the chair and watched as the man's eyes looked at her blankly. It was clear he didn’t understand a word she said.

 

"Do you know what I'm saying right now?" Morrigan's question was answered with a dazzling smile. The man tilted his head to one side, while he leaned back again in his chair.

 

Morrigan brought a hand to her chest saying "Morrigan," she tapped against her chest and added, "Human,"

 

The man across from her mimicked the same hand motion, touching his chest in time with Morrigan's motions. Morrigan beamed, nodding at his imitation.

 

"Morrigan," she repeated, laying her hand flat on her chest. The man looked down at his hand, back to Morrigan's face before responding.

 

He pointed at her and said "Morrigan," he pressed his hand to his own chest, "Eros,"  

 

Morrigan's smile widened. How had she been so concerned? The man across from her seemed so intelligent. At her smile, Eros flashed another one of his own, a bright dazzling smile that caused Morrigan to flush.

 

Their first meeting was basic. In fact, it was so basic she didn’t learn more than his name. Her allotted hour finished before any progress was made. A banging on the door alerted her that time was up. She tried gesturing to Eros that she would return and gave him a quick goodbye, leaving some of her items behind.

 

Decontamination was just as horrible the second time. After exiting the antechamber she was met with what she assumed was the whole team. Coulson was at the center and he looked intense as Morrigan entered the room.

 

“I see you at least got a name. How did it go? How do you feel?”

 

“I did get a name and I feel fine. I think it went as well as a first encounter could considering I only had an hour. You’ll have to give me more time for this to work.”

 

Coulson nodded and turned to Jemma and Fitz.

 

“Where are you at on a possible outbreak? Should we still be worried about an outbreak?”

 

“Considering what little we know it’s hard to say. I don’t think there’s a risk in extending the time slowly and monitoring reactions. We still don’t know if the feelings people get are a chemical or some other type of defense system.” Jemma answered. Coulson nodded again and added,

 

“We’ll start extending the time in 15-minute increments. Should FitzSimmons think something is wrong we’ll go back to square one. I want this done right so no skipping steps. Understood?”

 

The group gave their affirmative and Morrigan was swept away by the science duo to strategize the next session with Eros. Morrigan watched him as the group pulled her away and she could have sworn he gave her a slight wave as she left out of sight.

 

With the help of FitzSimmons, Morrigan launched into her work. She used flash cards and images to help Eros learn English and in turn, Eros taught her the words of his strange language. It was exhilarating for Morrigan to work through the process of understanding this new language. With each step forward she found herself leaning into him, intoxicated by the challenge. Intoxicated by him. She felt a connection driving her to find out as much about him as she could.

 

As weeks passed, Morrigan continued with her English lessons. Eros learned faster than any other student she'd taught before. Within two weeks he was forming his own basic sentences. From his small vocabulary, Morrigan was able to figure out more about him. Eros was a refugee, traveling from planet to planet before he came to Earth. Upon landing something had broken on his ship, this resulted in him wandering to the closest city in search of repair items. Unfortunately, he happened upon a small town where his presence was immediately reported which explained how he ended up in Shield's custody.

 

In their time together Morrigan learned as much of his language as she could. There was a musicality to it that she loved. Morrigan though that this is how all language should be, flowing and free with the additional melody to it to further intensify its meaning. It sounded almost like a song when spoken fluently. She hadn't had a new language that challenged her in years and the complexity of Eros' native language was intoxicating in its excitement.

 

She and Eros were together on most days. The decontamination process eventually stopped once they were certain no virus or plague would infect the crew. It became an easy relationship between student and mentor, the roles reversing depending on who was learning. Morrigan would spend her days and most of her evenings with Eros. They built a comfortable companionship together and Morrigan felt a joy that she hadn’t had in ages.

 

Before she knew it nearly a month had passed. Eros continued to develop at an amazing level. He had reached milestones that most people wouldn’t reach without months or years of work.

 

With the fear of an outbreak lifted Eros joined the crew for meals though he still spent most of his time in his small chamber. He didn’t seem to mind the constant attention. In fact, Morrigan had to guess that on some level, he enjoyed it.

 

Afternoon sessions became her favorite time. Morrigan usually reserved the mornings for grammar and syntax but afternoons she kept free to just talk. Encouraging Eros to learn the functionality of the language, not just its rules. The sessions were normal. They joked and laughed. Eros tried to teach Morrigan a small nursery rhyme from his homeworld. As an afternoon session was ending, Morrigan went to clean up her supply of markers and worksheets so they could walk to dinner together. She started collecting her things when Eros' hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist.

 

The usual warmth she had with him melted at the contact. Morrigan, panicked, pulled on her wrist to get loose. It was useless, she looked at his eyes and was frozen in place from the look Eros was giving her. It felt as though her whole body was paralyzed from fright.

 

His gaze was cold, piercing and appraising. He looked completely different from the man he was a moment ago. He looked at her like he had found a particularly unappealing bug in his garden. He held her gaze for a moment longer and, just as suddenly as it happened, he let go. He sat back in his chair and smiled at Morrigan again.

 

Morrigan reeled back, holding her wrist against her chest. She knew she needed to get out of there... But did she really need to leave? That had to have been her imagination playing tricks. Eros had been nothing but hesitant and gentle in all of his interactions so far. She had to have made up him grabbing her. It had to have been her imagination fueled by being gone from home for so long. Morrigan gave Eros a reassuring smile and picked up the last of her things.

 

"You ready?"

 

Eros looked at her and smiled genially. He stood and opened the door, holding it so she could pass through.

 

Two days passed when Coulson called her into his meeting room on the Zephyr One.

 

"They need you back at the Academy," Coulson informed her once they were both seated. Morrigan stiffened, she was not ready to leave Eros in the hands of some unknown agent.

 

"You can't send me back now. I am the only one he trusts and there's still so much that he needs to develop. You're going to stick your best linguist in a classroom while-"

 

Holding a hand up, Coulson cut her off.

"You don't think I'm aware? This order came from the top down and we're all supposed to be team players. I was told to send you back and I tried fighting it myself. I even offered to bring you onto my team but it didn't fly. They say you can't leave your classes for this long. There's a possibility of returning if a replacement is found or once the semester has ended."

 

Morrigan opened her mouth to argue further when Coulson added "This isn't a discussion. We're landing in thirty, a car will take you home from the office."

 

Morrigan knew when orders were orders. She stood, shook Coulson's hand and left for her temporary lodging to pack. She didn't have much so clearing her cabin of belongings took much less time than she thought. Sitting on her bed Morrigan reviewed the notes she had taken.

 

To say she was disappointed was an understatement. She hardly knew more than an infant would of Eros' vocabulary. She didn't even know what the language looked like in writing. They'd barely scratched the surface of what could be learned. Morrigan threw herself back on the bunk, frustration tensing her shoulders. She tried relaxing them but couldn't seem to stay calm enough for that yet. A soft tapping from her door broke her train of thought.

 

"Who is it?" she called out miserably from her bunk.

 

"Eros."

 

Bolting upright Morrigan launched herself at the door. Throwing it open she saw Eros leaning casually on the door frame. The same comfortable feeling filled her again at seeing him.

 

"I didn't think I'd get a chance to say goodbye! They're sending me home now," she sighed, stepping up to where he was in the doorway.

 

Eros smiled as he spoke, "I wanted to say thank you.  You've been working so hard on learning my language and teaching me yours.”

 

Eros reached out and grabbed Morrigan’s hand. He bowed slightly and lightly kissed the top of each hand. Morrigan felt the blush rush from her chest up and over her face. Her hands clutched his as he stood back up. Eros blessed her with another dazzling smile. Morrigan felt her mind go soft, her skin tingling. She wanted nothing more than to be wrapped up in him for the rest of her life.

 

“You shine too bright for men to gaze upon and I thank you for the opportunity to covet you from the shade you cast. I don’t know if I will see you again but I will treasure the moments you have given me.”

 

Eros’ voice was like honey over velvet and Morrigan felt herself leaning into him as he spoke. He looked at her as she pressed against his chest, a smirk wide on his face. He squeezed her hands briefly, turned and walked down the hall out of sight.

 

Morrigan stood in the doorframe, hands still up from where Eros let go. Something was trying to click together as her mind solidified after being thoroughly turned to mush. That was one hell of a goodbye. She looked down the hall, hoping he would return.

 

“Dr. Healy? We’re ready for you.”

 

Coulson’s voice broke the spell in the air and Morrigan mentally shook herself. She had behaved rashly and needed to pull herself together.

 

“Thank you, Coulson, let me grab my things.”

 

Dashing back into the room Morrigan grabbed her bag and followed Coulson down the hall to the quinjet. The flight was uneventful. Morrigan worked on her briefing notes and her file for submission. The anger at being told to leave had burned itself out. She was resigned to the fact that she would be back at her desk and some upper-level agent would pick up where she left off. She mostly felt sad. She could have taught Eros so much more and, in turn, learned more of his language as well. He had so much potential left.

 

A few hours later Morrigan was home. It seemed like everything that happened on Zephyr One was from another life. Morrigan started slowly putting her things away when her flash card fluttered out of her bag and onto the floor. She reached for it, smiling as she remembered her last lesson. She had wanted to start reading books together since Eros had made such progress. He was at least at a middle school level for comprehension. Morrigan paused. Realization strucking her out of nowhere. She felt like someone had poured ice all over her. She thought back to her goodbye with Eros. The way he spoke to her, the things he said. She had never taught him that.